Weekends, That’s Right & One Of Us, One Of Us, One Of Us

Some critics might accuse The Jacques of trying to clone the anthemic indie/punk clatter and chaotic charm of The Libertines but, hey, they’ve only been on the go for around a year and look at how young the singer looks and sounds! (I’m guessing that the combined age of all four band members would roughly equal the age of a single Rolling Stone).

Signed to 25 Hour Convenience Store (Libertine Gary Powell’s label), the lads have a brilliantly invigorating new single called Weekends out today and here it is. Be proud, boys, be very proud of this song.

You expect fantastic independent labels to emerge in cities like London, Manchester and Glasgow but, remarkably, one of Britain’s best new labels, Lost Map Records, is run by Johnny Lynch (The Pictish Trail) from his home in Eigg, which, if you don’t know, is a tiny island in the Inner Hebrides with some genuinely breathtaking scenery and a population of less than one hundred.

Home to artists like Insect Heroes and Kid Canaveral, the latest LM release is the Dross EP by Tuff Love – their debut EP incidentally was titled Junk. In 2014 the band toured Britain and mainland Europe as well as finding their way onto the bill at a string of festivals including Glastonbury and Wickerman. You’ll be hearing more from Tuff Love here in the future but for now, from Dross, this is That’s Right.

Good, isn’t it?:

And finally, I only discovered Perpignon’s The Limiñanas a few months ago through the Franz Ferdinand curated Late Night Tales compilation, where their almost impossibly cool track The Darkside segued masterfully into the vaudeville rap of Ian Dury’s Reasons to be Cheerful Part 3. I was instantly smitten.

They have just brought out a new album Traité de Guitarres Triolectiques (à l’usage des portugaises ensablées), where they’ve been joined by Pascal Comelade, who in the past has collaborated with a interesting bunch of musical talents such as Robert Wyatt, Faust and P.J. Harvey.

From the album, this is the simply magnifique One Of Us, One Of Us, One Of Us: